Song Dynasty
蓦山溪·赠衡阳妓陈湘·鸳鸯翡翠
鸳鸯翡翠，小小思珍偶。
眉黛敛秋波，尽湖南、山明水秀。
娉娉袅袅，恰近十三余。
春未透，花枝瘦，正是愁时候。
寻芳载酒，肯落他人后。
只恐远归来，绿成阴、青梅如豆。
心期得处，每自不由人。
长亭柳，君知否，千里犹回首。
Translation
Mandarin ducks and kingfishers live in pairs; young as she is, she too thinks of a cherished mate. Her dark brows gather autumnal waves of the eyes, as if all the bright mountains and clear waters of Hunan were held within them. Slender and graceful, she is just around thirteen. Spring has not fully opened; the blossom branch is still thin—this is precisely the hour for sorrow. I carry wine in search of beauty; how could I fall behind others? Yet I fear that when I return from afar, green leaves will have made shade and green plums will be small as beans. Where the heart fixes its hope is often not within one's control. O willows by the long pavilion, do you know? Even from a thousand miles away, I will still look back.
Analysis
This is a parting lyric addressed to Chen Xiang, a singing girl of Hengyang. It praises beauty, but its deeper movement is toward separation and helpless retrospection. The opening birds—mandarin ducks and kingfishers—are paired creatures, preparing the thought of a young girl longing for a cherished companion. The line about her brows gathering autumn waves and all the bright mountains and clear waters of Hunan is extravagant yet controlled, typical of Huang Tingjian's sharpened style. Her graceful body is then linked with early spring: spring has not fully entered, the blossom branch remains thin, and sorrow is already present. The second half turns to the speaker. Carrying wine in search of beauty sounds carefree, but the fear of returning to find green shade and plums like beans introduces time's speed and the danger of missing the moment. The central insight is that the heart's appointed place is not always under one's command. The willows by the long pavilion become witnesses of parting, and the final look back from a thousand miles extends the farewell into memory. The lyric begins in song-house elegance but ends in a larger sadness about youth, timing, and human helplessness.
About the Author
Huang Tingjian, courtesy name Luzhi, known as Shangu Daoren and later Fuweng, was a Northern Song poet, calligrapher, and writer from Fenning in Hongzhou. A member of Su Shi's circle and a founding figure of the Jiangxi school of poetry, he was paired with Su Shi as 'Su-Huang' in poetry and counted among the Four Masters of Song calligraphy. His writing values discipline, density, and crafted language. In ci, he could move between literati refinement and the tenderness of parting songs, as in Mo Shan Xi: Presented to Chen Xiang of Hengyang.